I don't think it's got anything to do with sanitizing history and everything with removing unacceptable language from kids' books - as the author says, they don't reflect about the terms they read, at least not on the level necessary and German parents (as a whole, yes, there are individual differences etc) aren't equipped to challenge this language or simply won't do it - as the arguments against Thienemann's decision clearly show.... and then there was that discussion we had in my children's literature class (in library school...) about whether the old Jim Button illustrations or the puppets from the puppet show are acceptable, where a very vocal part of the class said "...but tradition! Our childhood!".

Of course ultimately removing the words themselves isn't enough, because it doesn't remove the underlying concepts...